Man wakes up from coma after 19 years

June 4, 2007

Jan Grzewski, 65, a former railroad worker from Poland fell into a coma after being hit by a train while attaching two rail cars in 1988. Nineteen years later today, Grzewski has finally awaken.

"I wake up at 7 a.m. and I watch TV. I could not talk or do anything, now it's much better," said Grzewski.

After Grzewski fell into a coma, doctors also diagnosed him with brain cancer, giving him little chance to survive. Gertruda, Grzewski's wife, has been caring for him ever since in their home in Poland.

In 2006, Gertruda began to notice Grzewski attempting to talk, and took him back to the hospital. Less than two months later, Grzewski awoke from his coma.

Grzewski was injured when Poland was still a communist nation. He remembers seeing only "tea and vinegar" on the shelves of stores.

"When I went into a coma, there was only tea and vinegar in the shops. Meat was rationed and there were huge petrol queues everywhere. Now I see people on the streets with cellphones and there are so many goods in the shops it makes my head spin," added Grzewski.